A new near net-zero home designed by University of Waterloo students at Neyaashiinigmiing on the Bruce Peninsula has landed them an award from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Constructed by members of the Warrior Home team and Habitat for Humanity Grey-Bruce, the home now supports a family mainly through solar energy.
Senior Project Manager of the Warrior Home Student Design Team Jeffrey Ren says the project started in 2017 as a student design team at the University of Waterloo. The group focuses on Net-Zero homes, which take up less energy than regular houses and can be oriented to use the natural environment to power themselves.
The Warrior Home team is a group from the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering Centre and competes in student design competitions, like the one held by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Through a project in 2017 and working with Habitat for Humanity in Waterloo, the team built their connections and learned of a housing project at the Neyaashiinigmiing reserve where they helped build one of 19 homes in the new subdivision.
Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity Grey Bruce Greg Fryer says the house they assisted Warrior Home with started construction in the spring of 2019 and was completed six months later in Dec., with a family of five moving in by the middle of the month.
Fryer notes that while working with the Warrior Home team, they went back and forth with design and the features the students were proposing, like increased insulation levels and a sourced-air heat pump. “The students set up a digital thermostat that can track all of the data of the power being generated and the power usage of the family.”
Fryer says the total cost to build the one house was about $250,000, with the installation of the nearby solar panels costing about $30,000.
“Our costs were reduced because we were using volunteers helping build the home along with our staff. The family as well, part of our model is that the resident had to do 350 hours of volunteer service assisting us and building the home with us,” notes Fryer.
While the home will be using solar power to generate most of its energy, Fryer says the excess power the house does not use will be transferred to the Hydro One grid and the residents will be credited towards that. When the home is not able to use solar, they will be drawing power from the grid.
When asked if it is feasible to build more of these homes, Fryer says it depends on Hydro One, but Ren says it is possible, however, there are not any immediate plans to build more right now.
Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation Chief Greg Nadjiwon says the pilot project was innovative and proved all that it was hoped to be.
When asked if there were any more housing projects or any plans to construct more net-zero homes in the area, Nadjiwon notes it all depends on the capital investment of either First Nations or Habitat for Humanity. “It would probably be to the benefit of the consumer to have such a house with an energy efficient net-zero going forward.”
Nadjiwon adds he would like to see more of these types of houses, referencing the current housing project and how 12 houses have been built in this particular subdivision, and it is council’s goal to construct 19, with seven left to go.
The construction of the house landed the Warrior Home team a second place during the April 15th weekend and were presented a trophy from the U.S. Department of Energy.